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It's a question that philosophers have argued over for decades - if a tree falls in a Checkatrade Trophy Southern section Group A game between Crawley and Fulham Academy, does it make a sound? It's probably a topic that deserves it's own thread but I mention it here because Ibrahim Meite scored an excellent goal for Crawley in their 3-1 defeat tonight.
My take on yesterday's miserable Academy defeat by Charlton;-
http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/
When we sent a couple of Academy lads on loan to his local team, Cinderford, last season, I asked Des Parrot whether it's worth sending youngsters out to play at that level of football. He was quite positive but said 'The pitches are probably the biggest issue, not being able to run with or pass the ball, its a leveller'.
I'm sure there are reasons for playing age-group games at Leckwith Stadium but I'd be hard-pressed to think of a good one. If I had to come up with the perfect environment for youngsters to hone their skills in a game situation then a ploughed field in a wind tunnel would probably not make the shortlist.
Thanks again. You're concluding a lot of your recent youth write ups in the same way and have to say I echo your sentiments. I just hope there is a medium term in plan for our youngsters that doesn't hinder their short term development. Because I'm losing faith that there is a coherent plan. The DVP team is officially a write off now and the club have done a huge disservice to the remaining contracted players at that level. We've had endless games of trial players and no subs. Yet we haven't unearthed any potential signings from these trialists have we?
It's seems clear that we let too many players go last year and I really hope it was ideological and well strategised rather than a whimsical cost cutting measure. I don't really like this attitude of if they're never going to be good enough for the championship chuck em out. Not only do the players that stay suffer but the departing players are right to feel a little aggrieved as they made a commitment to the club and the club should also do to them. Most players in academies at our level won't turn pro. That's just obvious maths.
There's also something quite wrong with the way youth football is structured in the English pyramid. It's becoming fashionable for people to criticise it in its current form and more clubs are ditching their youth players or their academies all together. I think this partly because the game has gone too far down the road of being dictated by usury economics. Something needs fixing on that front. Perhaps youth teams numbers of players contracted should be compulsory? We've also made a mockery of the dvp league with our constant trialist teamsheets and no subs.
It'll be toxic if we earn a reputation as a bad place to develop young players. No rhetoric or action coming from the club is impressing me on the DVP front and I include any non player at the club to be part of that criticism.
Your last paragraph sets out the thing that I fear - I was hoping that, with Bellamy's appointment, we might see a turning away from the situation that has been in place for a couple of years now, whereby teenagers are deemed unpickable in competitive, as opposed to end of season affairs, League matches, but, if anything, it's getting worse. Have one or two trialists playing for the Development team by all means, but when it gets to five, it becomes farcical.
As for the Under 18s, it seems that, no matter how they play individually or as a team, there is no chance of progression for them this season - based on what we've seen so far, they're in the youth team for the duration of this season.
A couple of games tonight, we're away to MK Dons in the FA Youth Cup tonight - the tournaments is for age group 19 and under, so I'd expect players like, say, Cameron Coxe, Rhys Abbruzzese and Connor Young to play if fit. Given the game for the youngsters, I'd guess we're going to see a lot of trilalists in the Development team to face Palace to face Palace at Cardiff City Stadium - Neil Warnock said that Lee Camp and Rhys Healey would probably feature as well.
Both matches kick off at 7 o clock.
Reynolds was in the squad for the recent Academy game with Charlton - can't remember off the top of my head if he started or was a sub, think it was the first of those.
Yes, Neil Warnock confirmed in his post game conference last night that Harris, Camp and Healy will all play some part tonight.
Just been confirmed Camp, Healey and Harris all start.
1 – GOAL! Kadeem Harris smashes the ball into the back of the net from a Jamie Veale through-ball. (1-0)#CityAsOne ⚽⚽ pic.twitter.com/PGLvE5lRN9
— Cardiff City DVP (@CardiffCityDVP) December 12, 2017
23 - GOAL! Cameron Coxe hammers the ball across the face of goal and Rhys Healey is there to bang it home. (2-0)#CityAsOne ⚽⚽ pic.twitter.com/Nc4C1u8xZK
— Cardiff City DVP (@CardiffCityDVP) December 12, 2017
Harris withdrawn half time. Wonder if we will see him on the bench Sat?
52 - Goal for @CPFC. @jordonmutch provides a cross that McGregor scores from. Palace reduce the deficit. (2-1)#CityAsOne ⚽⚽
— Cardiff City DVP (@CardiffCityDVP) December 12, 2017
55 - Goal for @CPFC: Camp cannot do anything to stop Phillips' ferocious effort from the left side of the area. (2-2)#CityAsOne ⚽⚽
— Cardiff City DVP (@CardiffCityDVP) December 12, 2017
The plus points tonight were Camp, Healey and Kadeem (as well as Abbruzese) all coming through unscathed. However, after two first half injuries and Kadeem's substitution, the usual mix of trialists and youngsters resulted in a shocking second half and four goals being conceded to lose 2-4. It was obviously planned to take Healey off after an hour and, to be fair to him, after looking sharp early on he was exhausted by the hour mark. This meant City playing the last 25 minutes with ten men.
Other than as fitness tests for returning players, I have serious doubts about what benefits accrue from these often shambolic games at this level.
That's a bit harsh I think. It was a good game first half, the two trialists (identical twins, Jack and Paul McKay) looked the part but the early injury to one of them, followed by an injury to Mark Harris meant that we'd already used two subs before half time and with Healey and Kadeem Harris not being ready for a full game, the writing was on the wall for what was to come. It was a shame really, it was shaping up to be a decent contest.
Healey did look sharp on the ball, Harris not so much although they both scored. Slightly surprised to see Harris come off at half time, maybe he's close to making the bench for Saturday as JC suggests?
Oddly enough, my lad knows a guy named Rhys who suffered a similar injury to Healey and played his first comeback game on Saturday after months out. My lad saw him the next day and asked how it went. He shook his head and said 'not good'. My lad asked 'was the knee ok?', he said 'yes, the knee was fine, it was the lungs'. I was thinking of that watching Healey tonight, he was shattered after 10 minutes. I loved the way he kept finding a problem with his socks that needed urgent attention, preferably while he was on the floor. He stuck at it though and showed some nice touches.
Jordan Mutch strolled through the 90 minutes for Palace, I wonder what the future holds for him?
I agree with your comments about the first half and enjoyed it as well so perhaps my comments were a little too harsh overall. However, I still have doubts about what benefit there is to young players' development in the way this team is being run currently.
Fair enough. It's been a messy few months at that level, we'll see if there's some method in the madness as the season unfolds.
The Academy boys lost their Youth Cup tie 1-0 to MK Dons tonight. Sounded like they gave a good account of themselves and had chances to score before being beaten by a late winner.
My take on last night's two games.
http://mauveandyellowarmy.net/